Developer, owner have big plans for a new barbecue restaurant near Riverfront Stadium

The image showing what Laham Development wants for its property at 620 W. Maple, which sits just west of Riverfront Stadium at Maple and Sycamore and has been home to a string of bars over the years, is bound to get ballpark fans excited.

It features a modern building with retractable garage doors and a fenced-in patio that’s surrounded by manicured landscaping and has string lights glowing above. Lots of outdoor seating and yard games that people can enjoy before or after ball games are also part of the plan.

That vision is likely still a ways off, but Laham Development has made what it hopes are the first steps toward it, said Amy J. Liebau, chief operating officer for the company, which co-owns the property with Justin Cooke. They’ve leased the address to Tanker BBQ Co. owner Bruce Nielsen, who over the last few months has already spruced it up and started operating his restaurant from it.

Nielsen, who started his barbecue business late last year as a pop-up based out of his buddy’s roofing company at 608 W. Texas, is worried that people will get too excited too soon about the impressive drawing. In his mind, that version of the property is still years away.

But he does want them to come try his barbecue restaurant, which has been running since April out of the small brick building on the property that previously held bars like Stadium Sports Bar.

Tanker BBQ Co., which Nielsen owns along with Kevin Griswold, operates from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and offers things like ribs, pulled pork, brisket, burnt ends, hot links, chicken and more.

A former flooring contractor who studied to be a chef in the 1980s, Nielsen learned how to operate a commercial smoker about 30 years ago and developed a passion for it. He started making his own rub, and people encouraged him to market it or even open up a restaurant.

When his back gave out and he had to stop doing flooring, he said, Griswold offered him a chance to sell his barbecue from a pop-up at his roofing company. People loved his food, Neilsen said, probably because he makes everything from scratch.

“Once we started gaining so much traction, we came up with a logo,” he said. “...People are going crazy over the food. I put my heart and soul into it.”

Liebau said that Laham Development was looking for someone to help carry out the vision for the property and that, after talking to “a number of groups,” it settled on Tanker BBQ Co. Its owners will be responsible for turning the drawings into reality, she said.

“It’s something we put together that we felt would be a neat use of the property,” she said. “We’re hoping that the Tanker team can carry out the vision.”

Nielsen has the “vision board” drawings displayed at the cash register of the restaurant, which for now has a bare-bones set up. People order from a makeshift counter, and Nielsen has a few tables with folding chairs set up so customers can stay and eat if they want. He also sometimes puts picnic tables outside in the front parking lot.

In a couple of weeks, he’ll start a renovation of the restaurant’s kitchen, he said. Once that’s done, he’ll focus on fixing up the dining room.

He’s excited about what the corner could become but he wants people to be patient.

“That’s probably around year four or five,” Nielsen said. “I’m along for the ride.”

Tanker BBQ Co. menu